Listening to the Rain
by Tears of Aquarius
Summary: Rain falls down to the earth; it seems to cover the whole world in a blanket of despair. Harry and Hermione strive to see the silver moonlight shining down on them through the pouring rain. They have to endure it. They have to listen to the rain! .:HHr
1. A New Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It all belongs to the extraordinarily wonderful, clever, brilliant ingenious J.K. Rowling.  
  
¤ Listening to the Rain ¤  
  
.:Chapter 1:. A New Day  
  
A lightning bolt flashed across the sky just above Number 4 Privet Drive. After the flash of light disappeared, a loud thunder was heard in the distance. It rumbled on and on like a stone falling down a mountainside, until finally, it stopped. Everything returned, once again, to silence, except for the constant sound of rain pouring on the rooftop. Suddenly, another flash of lightning illuminated the night sky. Barely visible, in the window on the left of the upper floor, was a 16-year-old boy crouched in one of the corners of his shabby room. His head is turned down, towards the floor, with his raven-black hair hanging everywhere.  
Harry Potter had gone through some pretty tough times through out his life, but he never imaged it would come down to this. After having his parents murdered by the worst wizard ever, almost being killed by his so- called Defense Professor, nearly being eaten by a huge snake, finding out that his friend's rat was a Death Eater in disguise, trying his best to survive a tournament that he wasn't even of age to be in, and having his Godfather killed to save him, Harry was pretty much used to death and despair. But now everything was starting to come alive in him as realization hit; he was either going to defeat Voldemort or die trying.  
Millions of thoughts had been going through Harry's head since he had gotten back from his sixth year at Hogwarts. 'How am I going to defeat Voldemort?' 'Where's Dumbledore?' 'Should I tell anyone about the prophecy?' However, none of these things hurt him more than the one thought he was trying over and over not to think about- Sirius. Had it been Harry's fault that Siruis was now dead? If only Harry hadn't fallen into Voldemort's trap. Over and over Harry mentally kicked himself for his thoughtless actions. The perplexed teenager was constantly pushing Sirius out of his head. He had so much to worry about, Sirius only made him feel guilty, too.  
The rain persisted as the night carried on. The lightning and thunder didn't even faze the teenager as he continued to tune himself out of the world. Scenes replayed in his head, voices swept through his mind. Bewildered and frightened of what would happen to whom next, Harry stayed up that night, just like he had done for the past few months of his summer vacation. Sleep was of little value to him anymore; it only enabled nightmares to haunt his thoughts, which elevated the pain in his heart.  
Even though the members of the Order of the Phoenix had told Harry's aunt and uncle to treat him better, they were still failing immensely to do so. Scared to even go near Harry now, Uncle Vernon slipped scant meals through his door and left him alone. Even his cousin, Dudley, seemed to avoid torturing Harry. Occasionally though, Dudley would slip into Harry's room when his parents were out, and yell at Harry for 'causing so much trouble'. Harry didn't care about this, much less notice- he was always to shut off from the world to notice his surroundings. And so, Dudley carried out this ritual, thinking it made Harry feel horrible about himself.  
Piled by the door of Harry's room was paper plate on top of paper plate. Most of the food had gone to waste, (like it wasn't already rotten when uncle Vernon gave it to him) but some of it remained fresh. Like sleep, eating had become an insignificant matter. Only on the circumstance that Harry's stomach would be pouring unbearable pain through out his body, would he eat something. And even then, he wouldn't eat much.  
All Harry's belongings (of the wizarding world) were still locked away in his truck, which hadn't moved since he had gotten home from Hogwarts. Hedwig began hooting uncontrollably at the beginning of summer, and so Harry had to let her out. She hadn't returned since. Her empty cage sat on his cluttered desk of old quills and birthday gifts.  
Harry had received lots of gifts on his birthday from all of his friends (all of which were delivered by owls other than Hegwig), yet Harry had simply opened them, examined what he had received, and then wrote a brief 'thank you' letter back. He hadn't gotten any letters since then and was wondering if Hermione and Ron had been debating to owl him or not because of what had happened in their previous year.  
As the hours passed, night faded into day and the sound of rain on the roof calmed until it stopped entirely. Harry still sat in his corner, but now he had his head up, and was staring at Ron and Hermione's gifts. It was very odd what they had given him. Both seemed to have bought strange little picture frames for him. There was a picture of Hermione in the one she had gotten for him and a picture of Ron in the other one, which was from Ron! Harry thought this to be very unusual; they normally gave him something to do with Quidditch or, in Hermione's case, a spell book. But to give him two pictures of themselves? Why would they do that? Harry shook his head slowly and lowered his gaze to the floor once more. But he jerked it up suddenly at the sound of something moving on his desk.  
Something was emerging from Hermione's picture frame. It looked like a small piece of paper. But why was a piece of paper coming out of a picture frame? Harry slowly got up from his corner and cautiously walked over to where the piece of paper was appearing out of the glass. Lowly the whole paper made it out and Harry hesitantly picked it up. On the other side was writing that belonged to Hermione:  
  
Harry,  
You're probably wondering why there is a piece of paper coming  
out of this picture, right! Well it is really quite simple to  
explain. You see, Ron and I wanted a way to communicate with you  
frequently, without waiting so long to get the letters from our owls.  
So, I simply suggested that we charm a picture frame to transmit  
letters quickly- without having to wait. Ron agreed, so I went out,  
got the frames, and inserted the photographs. That way, you would  
know who is sending you the letter. Then I sent them to Ron, who  
asked his dad to charm them so that they would do as we requested.  
Thankfully, Ron's father agreed and had them back to me in a week,  
fully charmed! After I ran a few tests and added a bit more charms to  
make it even better, I sent them to you! All you have to do to get  
the message to transmit through is hold the paper up to the glass and  
blink at the picture. In return, the picture of the person in the  
frame should blink back and they should receive the letter no more  
than a minute. I'll tell you more about what you can do with it  
later, but for now, just reply to this letter, so that I know that you  
got it. I'll write you more soon!  
Love,  
Hermione  
  
For the first time in over a month, Harry smiled! 'Wow, Hermione, you really out-did yourself this time,' Harry thought to himself as he stared at the letter in his hands. This was a really clever idea. Now they could communicate much faster than with regular owls, and in secret, too. Uncle Vernon would never know. The picture frame did look perfectly normal, after all; you couldn't even tell that it was magical. Then remembering that Hermione had said to reply, Harry rushed over to his desk, took out a paper and quill, and began to write:  
  
Hermione,  
I got your letter. Been bored all summer. Please write soon!  
Harry  
  
After scribbling down the last few words in a hurry, Harry went over to the picture of Hermione, held the paper up to the glass, and blinked at it. The Hermione in the picture blinked back; no sooner had her eye opened back up, and the paper was going through the glass. Harry's eyes widened in awe, and he waited for the next message to come through. Ten minutes went by and still, no letter. Harry sat on the floor and starred at the pictures, waiting for a message, a paragraph, a sentence, he didn't care what it was, as long as it was from his friends. And yet.nothing came. Sighing, Harry got up and walked over to his corner again. He sat down and leaned his head against the wall. Just when he thought he would be talking to his best friends again, all goes wrong. 'It probably broke,' Harry thought to himself coldly, 'Figures.'  
The rest of the morning went by promptly. Harry actually decided to clean up all the plates of food by his door. Within a half-hour everything was near-to-neat again. That's when the next letter came. This time, it was from Ron, and it seemed to have a few crinkles.  
  
Harry,  
I hope you like your gift. I was a pretty clever idea wasn't it?  
My dad thought it was an excellent invention. Hermione made him  
promise not to tell the Ministry; that way they won't be able to  
interfere with our messages. Sorry that we didn't start sending you  
letters earlier, but Hermione thought we should wait a bit, 'just to  
be safe'. Anyhow, I hope that we can get together somehow. I'll  
speak to my mum about it! Write soon,  
Ron  
  
Harry smiled for the second time that day. He placed Ron's letter next to Hermione's and hastily wrote a reply saying that he would like to get together with them soon, and asked if Ron had seen Hegwig around anywhere. Finishing the letter, Harry blinked to Ron's picture, which returned the gesture, and then, the message disappeared through the glass. Satisfied with being able to talk to both of his friends, Harry took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand. He sank down on his bed and laid his head on the pillow. His eyelids suddenly began to droop. The weight of drowsiness increased until Harry finally gave in and slowly shut his emerald green eyes. 'I'll just rest,' he reassured himself, 'I won't fall asleep,' As a calming blue color surrounded his vision, Harry's mind cleared itself from all thoughts. His breathing slowed. Unaware of what was happening, Harry gradually drifted off into a deep sleep. However, in doing so, Harry opened his mind to dreadful memories. Memories that made normal little children scream, memories that revealed pain beyond imagining, memories. that aren't meant to be remembered.  
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Harry spun around. Everything was black. Left and right, up and down; the whole world seemed to be covered in permanent black paint. Harry spun around again. There, in front of him, was the ancient archway. The faded midnight blue veil gently swayed as if an invisible wind was blowing on it. Every move the veil made, Harry was tempted to grab it and push it to the side, so he could see what was behind it. Finally, after watching it for what seemed like forever, Harry hesitantly reached out his arm and touched the veil. In that instant, it stopped swaying. Carefully, because Harry was afraid it would rip, he shifted it to one side. Curious emerald eyes as big as plates peeked behind the fragile piece of fabric. Harry shouted and took several shaky steps backward. Right in front of his face was Sirius, his deceased Godfather, who was starring right into Harry's frightened eyes- he seemed to be looking straight into Harry's soul. Harry took in numerous deep breaths before calming down and walking closer. "S- Sirius?" Harry stammered. No reply came, only the constant blinding stare of his eyes. Once again Harry attempted to speak to him. "Sirius?" He said with a little more confidence. Again no reply was heard. As Harry stepped a bit closer, he saw, in his godfather's eyes, the scene of his own death. Bellatrix hitting him square in the chest with that powerful stunning spell, Sirius falling, like in slow motion, into the archway, the veil streaming out like a tornado had hit it, and then, it stopped, and returned again to the constant gentle flow, like before. Sirius didn't return.  
Suddenly, a white, pale face with red, glaring pupils and two slits for a nose appeared in Sirius's eyes. The malignant face's mouth curved into a venomous grin that could only belong to one creature.. Voldemort! Harry gasped and spun around only to scream. Red eyes glared back at him. "What a pitty," the creature stated, "That he had to die." Harry shivered as Voldemort said this. "It was quite easy to trick you." Voldemort stepped closer, and Harry took a step back. "Everything went as planned," Voldemort came another step closer; Harry went the other way. "That accursed fool came to get you," Voldemort smirked before finishing, "and then he died to save you." The dark wizard's smile faded and a mock- concerned face appeared. "You loved him, didn't you?" Harry had had enough! "And you killed him." "SHUT UP!" he shouted in Voldemort's face. "Tisk, tisk, tisk, Potter, we mustn't get angry now." Voldemort said simply. Harry took in long, heavy breaths, trying not to scream again. "After all, I'm sure you know in your heart that it was you who did it. You killed him." Harry was silent. Voldemort smiled his evil smile and began to circle Harry like a vulture. "Now, Harry, be a good like boy and tell me where the prophecy is." "No, I won't," Harry said coolly, but boldly. "You will tell me now, freely, not to mention painlessly, or I will make you tell me. Your choice." "I will never tell you anything," "Fine then, have it your way!" Voldemort's wand came up as he shouted, "Crucio!" Defenseless, Harry fell to the ground. Severe pain shot through his body like a thousand needles. "Ready to tell me?" Voldemort asked confidently. "NEVER!" Harry managed to scream. "I WILL..NEVER..TELL YOU!" Suddenly, the pain ceased, and Harry opened his eyes. Voldemort stood above him, glaring down. "Time. will tell." with that said, the hideous 'thing' departed up into the air and disappeared with a 'pop'. Harry waited a while before hoisting himself to his feet and turning around. Harry had expected to see Sirius, standing there, staring at him, in his frozen state- like before, but what he was seeing made him gasp in shock. Sirius seemed to be floating backwards in the archway. Harry threw his hand out to try to catch his Godfather, but Harry couldn't seem to reach him. Farther and farther away, Sirius flowed. "Sirius! Come back!" Harry shouted out. The sound echoed off the darkness and filed the setting with the desperateness in Harry's voice. "SIRIUS!" Now, Harry couldn't even see him. He was lost in the land behind the veil. Never to return. "SIRRRUUUSSS!" The word came out in slow motion as the world around Harry began to spin. Everything was becoming blurry. He could no longer see the ancient archway or the veil slowly blowing in the invisible wind. His senses became active again, and Harry's eyes swiftly opened up. He sat up and sat in shock as he took in his surroundings. He was back in his room (If you would can it a room) and everything was still.  
His breaths came out in heavy blows as he tried to get himself to calm down. Seeing that everything was normal, and that his dream was really just a dream, Harry relaxed on his bed. Only a few seconds had pasted; his breath was finally slowing down. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Harry's forehead. His hands came up to rub his temple around his scar. The throbbing pain finally left. However, his scar still tingled. 'I guess I should be pretty much used to this,' Harry thought, 'after all, Professor Dumbledore did say that those sudden bursts of pain on his scar would happen more frequently because Voldemort was around now.' Harry rubbed his scar for a few more moments before he lay back down on his bed and tried to push the memories from his nightmare away, out of his thoughts.  
So many things were going through the mind of that raven-haired teenager, he didn't know what to think. Harry opened his eyes and starred at the ceiling. It had strange little bumps all over it. Harry starred at one space for quite a while before suddenly realizing that the way the bumps were aligned made it look like..well..it looked like Cho. 'Cho Chang'..Harry thought this to himself, still starring at that one spot on the ceiling.  
It was over between them, and Harry knew that for a fact. He really didn't mind. After a while Harry had realized it was 'just a crush'. He knew that they would always be friends, but nothing more. Cho just wasn't right for Harry. She was too..how's a nice way to put it ..self-pitying? Arrogant? Just plain rude? But no matter how times Harry's heart and brain had told himself that it was the right thing to do, to let her go, his conscious just kept thinking that it was a mistake, and it haunted him. 'No one else is ever going to like me.' was the putdown that Harry's conscious kept telling him. 'I'm never going to have another girlfriend for as long as I live.' He sighed as he thought this, 'She was the only one who liked me.' Then again, every time Harry thought of their little 'date' at Madame Puddifoot's he was glad that he broke up with her. Cho was absolutely horrendous on that outing. It was dreadful. Harry was incredibly happy to just get out of that so-called restaurant and go see Hermione and Luna at the Three Broomsticks. Even that was better than joining Cho as she continued mourning over Cedric.  
Harry lay there and watched the ceiling a bit longer. Something began to make a soft buzzing sort of sound. 'Must be a fly' Harry thought, not moving his head to see what it was. Another thing that Harry was confused about was where Dumbledore was. He had no idea, and it scared him. What if Voldemort found Dumbledore and..and ..hurt him .. or worse..! Harry couldn't think about that, he just couldn't, it was too much for him. That fly was still buzzing and it was getting annoying. What about Grawp? Did Hagrid ever come back to 'tame' his giant brother some manners? 'Oh, I do hope that he gave that 'thing' a bath,' Harry thought with a look of disgust, 'It smelt like the Owlery at Hogwarts on a humid day,'! That fly was getting on Harry's nerves. He heard the telephone ring down stairs, and the sound of heavy footsteps going to get it. 'I wonder how much weight Dudley gained over the summer?' Harry asked himself. He hadn't really gotten a good look at this cousin since the time that he had gotten home from school. Harry was thinking about Dudley, the size of an elephant, trying to squeeze into his chair, just to eat lunch, when the buzzing stopped. 'Dead fly,' Harry thought. But then he smelt the wonderful aroma of-he couldn't believe it..a warm, freshly baked cookie! Thinking that he must be going insane, Harry sat up and looked over at where the smell was coming from. Sure enough, over on his desk, was a steaming warm cookie. The warm, sweet smell had gotten to him, so he got up and went over to his desk. Right next to the cookie, which was chocolate chip, was a letter. Harry picked it up and read:  
  
Harry,  
I told you that my invention did more than just send  
letters! It can also transmit food items and objects, but they have  
to be smaller than the frame, or else they can't fit through. Your  
gift can do one more special thing..but I'm going to wait to show you  
what it is. Ron already knows, but I told him not to tell you,  
because I want it to be a surprise. I hope that you like the cookie.  
I was just baking them with my mom, and I thought of you, at the  
Dursleys' with no food, so I decided that this would be the most  
inviting way to show you that you can send things, like cookies,  
through the frame! Have fun with it! I have something else that I  
want to ask you later, but first I have to go through the details with  
my mom one more time, okay!  
Love,  
Hermione  
  
Harry sat the letter down and picked up the cookie. It was still warm and the chocolate chips were a bit gooey. He took a bite of it, and rolled his eyes at the good taste. Harry never knew that Hermione could make such delicious cookies. He made a note to himself to ask her for cookies on Christmas, rather than a gift! As he swallowed his last bite of the scrumptious morsel, Harry reflected on the letter. She had said that this gift she'd given him could do one more thing. And if Harry knew Hermione, I was going to be impressive. Yet, Harry wondered what that 'one thing' could be. After all, these contraptions could do a heck of a lot more already than Harry had ever dreamed of.  
Another thing that struck Harry as strange was the thing that Hermione wanted to ask him. Was it really that important that Hermione had to talk to her mother about it first. 'Gosh,' Harry thought, 'I hope that I didn't get her in trouble or something.' It was unlike Hermione to have to resort to asking someone else for details, as she would normally would go right to a book. As the minutes passed by, Harry thought about all the possibilities he now had with his picture frames. He could send anything he wanted, that would fit, to his friends now. But what to send? Ron was going to be his first victim.  
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Two hours later, Harry had sent Hermione a thank you letter (in which he had told her that she had made the absolute best cookies he had ever eaten), a note to Ron (asking about his summer), and a Galleon to each of them. He asked Ron to buy him the latest copy of The Daily Prophet, and Hermione to get him the newest issue of The Quibbler. Harry wanted to know what was going on out there, and Hegwig was gone, so he had to ask his friends to help him out a bit. Harry was sure that he could rely on them.  
It was getting dark and the stars were starting to appear all over the sky. Uncle Vernon had, as usual, slipped a plate of food through the door, and scurried off. Harry went over and ate one of the pieces of watermelon off his plate. Then he ate the other. (They were no bigger than a bouncy ball at most.) The only thing left on the plate was one bean, which was so small Harry could most likely feed it to a bird and it still wouldn't be full. After that, Harry put the plate in the garbage.  
Harry got up and walked over to the window. The moon was almost full, it would be in about another week or so. He stared at the beams shining down on the earth. They were beautiful. Then Harry noticed a shadow against that big lantern of night light. It looked like an airplane, but then it's wings moved up and down. 'Hegwig!' Harry thought with a smile of excitement. The owl started to come into view. As it passed a beam of moonlight Harry could see that it was, indeed, a white owl. Closer and closer the creature flew, before it was right in front of the window. Harry hurriedly unlatched the lock and let the tired owl in. She flew over to perch on her cage and looked at Harry. "Where have you been all summer?" Harry asked his owl. Hegwig seemed to understand his question, because in response, she held up her leg to reveal a huge parchment. Harry rushed over and unattached it. When the letter was finally off, Hegwig went into her cage and put her head up to her water bowl, but then she paused, brought her head back up and starred at Harry befuddled. Harry went over so see what was wrong. "Oh, sorry Hedwig, I forgot- Your water must have dried up while you were gone. Here let me get you some more." Harry went into the bathroom cautiously, trying to avoid the Dursley's. When he came back in his room, he put the full bowl of water back in the cage. Hegwig began to drink immediately and ignored Harry. Harry took this opportunity to look at what was written on the parchment. He opened it up and gawked at the huge amount of writing scribbled all over it!  
The letter, or rather, novel (Not really; it's just really long), seemed to be from Professor Dumbledore. It began by saying that Hegwig had been over with Dumbledore all summer and not to worry. Second, it stated that he, the headmaster, was safe! However, the letter didn't state where he was. A part that particularly caught Harry's eye was a paragraph in which Dumbledore wrote something like this:  
  
I felt in my heart that you were being blocked off from the news and  
information that is vital for you to know, and so, while the meetings  
of the Order were taking place, I had someone jot down everything that  
went on. The ink on this page is made for your eyes only. No one  
else can read it except you. (I find that DNA ink is very handy.  
Fred and George, as you may have guessed, invented it. It's one of my  
very favorite of their inventions!) These notes have information on  
all the latest findings. And before you start to read, I would just  
like to say that you don't have to worry. Voldemort hasn't struck  
anywhere so far during the summer. Right now, we assume that he's  
undercover in hiding. Now that I've said that, you may proceed in  
your reading!  
  
Harry stared at all the text below this paragraph. About three pages worth of tiny words all existed on that one scroll. Harry eyes skipped that part, (for now) and went to the bottom, where in various fancy handwriting were the names of all the people in the Order. Harry saw Dumbledore's first. It was just as neat as always. Harry was sure glad that he was okay. It brought comfort to him. Below the headmaster's signature was a little note: Have fun for the rest of the summer! Below that was Professor Lupin's name. Well, he wasn't exactly a professor now, but to Harry, he'd always be the best Defense teacher. A little note saying-Hope to see you soon- lay right under his signature. To the right was Mrs. Weasley's name and the letters XOXO with five extra X's next to it. Next to her's was Mr. Weasley's. Then below their's was Moody's (with the note: Stay Put!), Kingsley's (Best of Luck), Tonks's (Miss ya' Harry!), and all the rest of the member's names. Sirius's name was not there, however, thankfully, Harry was too caught up at the moment to notice.  
Flabbergasted, Harry sat down on his bed and began to read the notes that Dumbledore had taken for him at the meetings. On and on Harry read, until finally, not to mention amazingly, Harry fell into a dreamless, comfortable sleep. There wasn't a single nightmare, and no ugly Voldemort faces were staring back at him that night!  
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The next morning the raven-haired sixteen-year-old living at Number 4 Privet Drive awoke early with a smile plastered to his face. As he lay in bed, he had a little fantasy about eating warm blueberry muffins for breakfast, and now it was starting to get to him. He could almost smell them! Getting out of bed and stretching, Harry took in a deep breath. Oh, he smelt those muffins again! If only it wasn't just a dream! Harry put on his glasses and picked up the scroll that was laying his bedside table to go put it on his desk. Lazily, Harry walked over and carelessly placed it on top of a bunch of stacked books. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, having the mind to go back to sleep, but what he saw next to one of the frames, made him instantly wake up.  
There, right in front of him, was his muffin that he had dreamed of! It was even blueberry! A note lay beside it. It said:  
  
Harry,  
My mum made muffins for breakfast, so I nicked one and sent it to you! I hope it's still warm!  
See you soon,  
Ron  
  
Harry put the note down and picked up what Ron had sent. It was still soft and he could smell the melted sugar on the top. As he ate it, Harry thought of what Ron meant by 'See you soon'. Were they planning on getting together? When? And why didn't he know about it? His questions were soon answered when another letter came through the frame. This time it was from Hermione:  
  
Dear Harry,  
I have great news! Would you be interested in vacationing with me in  
at S. R . C. Park, for a week? We are going this week, Sunday. Ron  
is invited as well, and of course, my parents are coming! Silver Rain  
Crystal is a new park in the U.K. I think that you would enjoy it!  
My parents told me that it's an enchantingly gorgeous place. I  
thought that since Ron always invites us over for the whole summer  
that this would be my summer to invite you guys over. And because I  
scarcely get to see my parents, this would be a great opportunity for  
us to get together and for me be with my mum and dad! Don't worry  
about your 'security'! I wrote to Professor Dumbledore and asked him  
if it would be safe to go to S. R. C. Park with you, and he said that  
it would be perfectly fine, as long as someone comes to check on us  
every few days! If you choose to go, you'll need to have everything  
for Hogwarts with you, because after we go to the park for a week,  
we'll be spending the rest of the summer at my house. You won't need  
money; my parents are going to take care of that. The only issue with  
this whole fiasco is that my parents said that you need permission to  
go, or else, you can't come. I tried aimlessly to tell them about  
your vicious relatives, Harry, but they said that they need to know  
that you are allowed to go. I hope that somehow you can convince your  
notorious uncle! It would be a pity if you couldn't come because of  
them. Please write me back and let me know if they said yes! I'll be  
anticipating a message!  
Love,  
Hermione  
P.S. My two cousins will be with us half of the week because their  
parents are at a convention meeting and wouldn't be able to come down  
to the park until it's over. Sorry about the inconvenience!  
  
'Wow!' was all that Harry thought after he read the letter. Slowly, his smile turned into a frown. 'If only I could go'. Putting down his letter, he went over and sat on his bed, his head in his hands. Today was Friday. Harry was determined to get his uncle's permission to go! He would have to, or else; he wouldn't see his friends for the rest of the summer. He had three days!  
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In the afternoon, after planning out a way to get Uncle Vernon to allow him to go, Harry sauntered down the stairs casually, as if he owned the place, (Like he'd want to!) The teenager saw a large boy-looking- crustacean sitting in a couch, but the boy was so fat that it looked like a simple arm chair. Yep, Dudley had grown; Harry was right! Avoiding the large elephant in the living room, Harry went straight to his uncle's office, where he would be sure to find him.  
Sure enough, Uncle Vernon was sitting at his desk chair, and seemed to be doing some paper work while munching on a vast amount of large frosted donuts. Harry knocked on the doorframe, as there was no real door separating his office from the rest of the house. Vernon looked up in surprise, but was even more surprised to see his nephew staring back down at him. "What do you want, boy? I thought I told you to leave me and my family alone!" Harry rolled his eyes, but began speaking, "Look I don't want to talk to you anymore than you want to talk to me, so lets make this easy and just shut up!" Harry's uncle's eyes flared with pure hatred but he did shut up! "Okay, here's the deal: my friend invited me over for the summer, and her parents have to have your permission that I can go. Do you follow?" "You boy, are not going anywhere but back up to your room, unless you want to mow the entire lawn for the rest of your life!" Harry didn't move, he just continued to talk, "Anyway, I need your permission to go." "I said, and I will always say, 'NO'!" Vernon shouted, "And for disturbing me you have to make dinner tonight." With that Vernon spun around in his chair to do some work on his other desk. Harry just grinned back at his uncle full of confidence, "Do you remember a few months ago, when my 'friends' (*'Mad-eye Moody' and Mr. Weasley, for those of you who don't know*) had that wonderful little chat with you?" "Why would that concern you?" Vernon barked. "Because if you were to say 'no', that I couldn't go.well, that would be considered making my life horrible wouldn't it?" Uncle Vernon didn't answer, so Harry went on, "And I would have to inform them about it, now wouldn't I?" Harry pretended to be in deep thought, "Now I wonder what they would do? Hmm?" At that moment, Harry glanced down at his uncle quickly. In seeing that all known color was gone from his uncle's face, Harry grinned triumphantly. Uncle Vernon seemed to be in 'real' deep thought. Finally he looked up. "Boy, you have caused way to much trouble in my house over the past few years. You have done nothing but create chaos. I will not stand it much longer." He ended turning purple once more. "So.does that mean I can go?" "You got away with it this time, but I warn you, I'm only keeping you in this house for one more summer. After that, you're out! So just remember that when you get back from your stupid Freak School! Now go to your room and don't come back out. -Oh I almost forgot! I have a list of chores for you to do, I mean, you do live in this house. We feed you, give you a bed to sleep in, so you have to pull your weight around here!" Vernon smirked as best he could. Harry thought it was hysterical, but grabbed the list that his revolting uncle handed him and went back up to his room. As soon as he got there, he wrote Hermione back, saying that he could come, and that he couldn't wait!  
In the days that followed, Harry spent long hours doing his assigned grueling chores. He swept the floor, moped, and scrubbed. He cleaned the gutters, hosed down the porch, and swept the sidewalk. He mowed the lawn, raked up the cut grass, and watered the plants. Poor Harry even had to clean Dudley's room for him. That took almost an entire day. By the time he was done with everything, it was Saturday evening and he hadn't even packed anything, yet!  
So at midnight, Harry -finally packed up- got in bed. He didn't sleep that night, however. He was too excited about what was to come the following morning, when his best friend was going to come to pick him up. He would finally be away from the most loathed muggles in his life, and he'd be near his two best friends: Ron.and Hermione!  
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.:Note:. Okay you guys, I hope that you liked it! I would be much obliged if you could please give me a review! Listening to the Rain is my very first fan- fiction, so please be nice, but any advice or comments are very much appreciated!~!~! And for all of you out there who noted that this story is under the category Romance but seems not to have any: Be patient! I will give you Romance! You will just have to wait for the next chapter! Oh, and about the following chapters: I'm currently attending school now, so I probably won't update for about a month. However, I promise you: I am dedicated to writing this story and no other, so it will not be rushed and/or poorly written under any circumstances! Thanx 4 reading my story! .:Peace out:.  
  
¤ Tears of Aquarius ¤ 


	2. Moments in Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It all belongs to the extraordinarily wonderful, clever, brilliant ingenious J.K. Rowling.  
  
¤ Listening to the Rain ¤  
  
.:Chapter 2:. Moments in Darkness  
  
Bright rays of golden sunlight beamed through a certain sixteen-year- old's window on a fresh Sunday morning. Harry Potter rolled over in bed. The glistening light from the sun lit up his face. He ran a hand through his jet-black hair and opened his eyes. Stunning emerald orbs stared back at the sun. 'Sunday,' he thought, 'Finally!' Today, he was going to be picked up by his best friends to go on a vacation at a huge park, which Hermione said was gorgeous (According to her parents)! Lazily, Harry got up out of bed and walked over to the window. The sun had just come up, and there wasn't a cloud in sight! The blueness of the sky made the teenager think of his Headmaster's bright eyes. It made him happy inside to know that Dumbledore was safe somewhere. Soon, Harry would be with his best friends: where *he* felt safe.  
He wondered when Hermione was going to pick him up. Would it be early, or later in the day? Most likely, Hermione being the host of it all, they would be early. Harry decided to do a quick check to make sure he had everything ready to go before hopping in the shower. After that, he got dressed, tried to tame his wild hair, which was a failure attempt, and started to check the clock every few minutes for the time. He was very excited, but nervous at the same time. 'What if they forget to pick me up?' Harry asked himself. 'What if Hermione's mother is allergic to owls and I won't be able to bring Hegwig?' On and on Harry's ridiculous questions and concerns raced through his mind, getting even more absurd every time. The hours passed by and Harry was starting to wonder where they were.  
Finally, at about noon, a car- or rather mini van, pulled into the driveway. Harry raced down the stairs, bumped into Dudley in the kitchen, (who was running toward the stairs) and headed towards the door. Harry stopped at the door, took a deep breath, and calmly opened it. A girl, that he had missed so much over the summer, was getting out of the turquoise mini van. He slowly started walking towards her.  
She was the first one to turn around and see Harry. A stunning smile swept across her face, and she seemed to beam with joy. Hermione ran to Harry and they met in an embrace that nearly knocked Harry clear off his feet. Once again, (To Harry's joy) Hermione's bushy hair was all over his face. Harry closed his eyes and took in her strong lilac scent. She had a different fragrance nearly everyday. (Due to different shampoo and conditioners!) It was wonderful to have his friends with him again. Harry wished that this precious moment could last forever, that he could be with his closest friends until the end of time! Unfortunately, it was only a wish, one that was never granted. Hermione let Harry go, still beaming with happiness, and stood back to see him. "Oh, I've missed you terribly!" she said with a slight tremble. Hermione stood on her tiptoes, and engulfed him once more in a quick hug before letting him go, grabbing his hand and walking towards the vehicle. Ron appeared from the other side of the van. "Haven't seen you in a while, mate!" he called out, his hair as red as always, "How've you been?" "Er.okay," Harry managed to say before Ron slapped him on the back in a friendly greeting.  
Ron had gotten a bit taller over the summer. Harry had, too, but he wasn't as near as tall as Ron. Hermione had grown a good few inches as well, but Harry was still taller. Part of Hermione's hair was braided in two tiny, neat braids that were pulled back and connected in the back. The rest of her hair hung loose and nearly went down to her mid-back. Hermione had a mid-tight red t-shirt on with short, low-rise jean shorts. She looked a lot older, or so Harry thought! "Let's go get your stuff, Harry," Hermione insisted. "We have to get going if we're going to get down there and get a good cabin; it's nearly a six hour drive!" They were just about to walk through the door when. "Hermione!" a woman in the front seat called. "Yes, mum?" Hermione replied. "Can you come here for a second, Felicity wants to show you something." Hermione rolled her eyes, but stomped over to the van saying, "Sorry, I'll come as soon as I can." "Who's Felicity?" Harry asked Ron as they made their way up to his room. The Dursleys were nowhere in sight and Harry guessed they were all hiding in Dudley's room, waiting for them to leave. "She's Hermione's little cousin, you know, the one that's staying with us for a while?" Ron said as he picked up Hegwig's cage and one of Harry's bags. "Oh," Harry replied trying to picture Hermione and her cousin. Did they look alike? Harry picked up his trunk and they made it downstairs and out the door. Hermione was walking up the sidewalk when they left the house. "Oh, I knew Felicity would mess everything up. You shouldn't have carried all that! Here, let me take something." Hermione tried to reach for Harry's trunk, but Harry knew that Hermione couldn't carry it. "No, that's okay Hermione. Thanks anyway," he reassured her. "Alright, if your sure," Hermione said, leaving the boys and walking over to open the back door.  
After all of Harry's things were loaded into the vehicle, they went over to the other side of the van where Hermione's parents were standing. Harry and Ron stopped a few feet away from them. Hermione went up and stood next the woman. "This is my mum," she told Harry proudly, "Diana Granger." Hermione's mother smiled a sweet smile at them. 'Just like Hermione's,' Harry thought to himself. Diana had Hermione's long dark brown curly hair with her chocolate brown eyes. She wasn't fat, nor was she skinny, which was another characteristic of Hermione's. "We are so glad to finally meet you Harry, Hermione's told us all about you," Hermione's mom extended her hand and Harry gently shook it. Hermione averted her gaze; she was smiling shyly.  
A few moments pasted before Mrs. Granger left go. When she did, Hermione spoke up again, "And this is my dad," she said walking over to the man, "Todd Granger." Mr. Granger was pretty tall, with deep blue eyes and light brown hair. "Nice to meet you Harry," her father said and extended his hand as well. They shook hands briefly before he said, "You can just call me Todd if you'd like. Mr. Granger is what all of my patients call me!" he said smiling. "Yes, sir." was all that Harry could manage at the moment. "I've already met them," Ron whispered to Harry when Hermione was talking to her dad, "There're remarkably pleasant compared to Hermione." They talked a bit more before Mrs. Granger exclaimed, "Okay everybody, we have a long ride a head of us, so lets get going!" and with that they all go into the van. "We have to sit in the back because my cousins are in the two captain seats next to the front so my mom can see them. Is that okay with you Harry?" Hermione asked. "Perfectly," Harry stated. As they went to the back, Harry saw two little people in the first two seats. One was a little girl with blonde curly hair, and the other was a baby boy with dark brown hair. Harry sat down in the middle seat: Hermione on his right, and Ron on his left. The van started up and they departed from the Dursley's drive way. 'Good-bye, good for nothing relatives,' Harry thought as Number 4 Privet Drive disappeared from sight. "That," Hermione said pointing to the curly-haired child in front of her, "is Felicity." Felicity looked back at Harry and slyly smiled, then looked at Ron and smirked. Hermione pointed to the opposite captain's seat and said, "and that is Shaine." Felicity seemed to be about three years old, but Shaine looked like he was no more than eight months at the most. His stunning blue eyes held Harry's gaze for a moment before he turned his head, and stared out the window. Hermione continued, "Felicity is quite energetic, so beware, she gets rambunctious from time to time. But you don't have to worry about Shaine; he's only eight and a half months old, and he never cries, or talks for that matter. He's always been a bit quite." Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and she looked down at her lap, contemplating something or the other, but within moments her head came back up and she had that gorgeous smile on her face once more.  
Hermione looked up at Felicity, who was still smirking at Ron, and then to Ron, who had a hilarious, puzzled look on his face. Hermione scoffed before cupping her hand over the left side of her mouth and leaning over to Harry, "I think she fancies him." She whispered. Harry smiled as Hermione's warm breath tickled his ear. He had missed those little things about being with his friends. Harry was back in his world. Right where he belonged.  
A few minutes later, Mrs. Granger turned around in her seat, "Everyone, it's just about one o'clock. Would it be okay if we drove for half an hour and then stopped at a restaurant?" "Sounds good to me." Hermione stated. "Me, too" Ron exclaimed. "That would be great." Harry told Diana. She smiled.  
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For the next twenty minutes, the trio talked about how their summers had gone so far. Ron's brothers had briefly visited from Romania. They only stayed for two weeks, but Ron said that they had a blast! Hermione, on the other hand, had been home the whole time, finishing her over-the- summer homework. One of her essays, she told them, was five feet long. After that conversation, Hermione lectured the two boys on how important it was for them to get their homework done on time, neatly, and accurately.  
Ron quickly changed the subject. "So, Hermione, is there a pool at this park," "Well, of course." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They also have a lodge, a dining hall, a gift shop, a museum, a waterfall that you can go see, daily activities, a beach, boat rentals, horseback riding, canoeing, trials, a golf course, a put-put course, camping, a petting zoo, and a rope course." Ron's lower jaw dropped. "Wow," was all he could say. "That's amazing," Harry uttered. "Well, I told you." Hermione stated rather plainly, "This is a very popular place. It was just built two years ago." "That place must be bigger than Hogwarts." Ron muttered to himself, bemused. "Is it, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Well, technically.no." she informed them. "Hogwarts has rooms that can appear out of no where, remember; it can be endless in size. However, S.R.C. Park does look awfully vast in size in the pictures that I've seen." "Are we going.er. cinoing?" Ron asked "Canoeing!" Hermione corrected, "It's a muggle hobby, in which you get in a small pointed boat and 'paddle', with ores, down a river. I hear it's really quite a bit of fun!" she ended smiling. "Interesting 'hobbies' muggles have." Ron mumbled to Harry, who smiled and nodded. "What kinds of aminals does they have for the petting zoo?" Felicity asked. "Oh, all kinds, I presume! There's probably lambs, goats, lamas, zebras, ponies, pigs, cows, kittens, you name it!" "Wow!" the little girl exclaimed, "That's a lot'a aminals for one zoo."  
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In practically no time, the vehicle was pulling into a restaurant. It was called 'Angelica's'. Everybody got out, including the two little ones, and they went inside. There weren't more than ten people in the whole place! The group walked over to the biggest table they could find and sat down. Harry, Ron, Felicity, and Hermione were on one side, while Hermione's mother, father, and Shaine were on the other.  
Mrs. Granger held Shaine instead of putting him in a high chair. She said that she never trusted those; they always were full of germs. Mr. Granger mentioned something about washing hands to his wife and instantly, they both left the table for the bathrooms with Shaine.  
Felicity looked at Ron, who was next to Hermione and then pulled on Hermione's hair, bringing her head down to Felicity's level. She began whispering something in her ear. Hermione looked at Felicity strangely, but then nodded and began to get up. For some reason, she switched places with Felicity. Felicity smiled at Ron, who was right next to her. Ron smiled nervously, unsure of the little girl who was staring up at him with a mischievous smile. Harry watched as Ron scooted as far away from the girl as possible. The little girl, however, scooted too! "She'll keep Ron occupied for quite a while," Hermione said laughing, next to him. Harry nodded and laughed with her. Ron looked over at his two laughing friends and silently mouthed, "Help me!" which only made the two laugh louder.  
Mr. and Mrs. Granger soon returned with the little boy. In no time a waiter came over to their table. "Is everyone ready to order?" she asked them, a notepad in hand to write everything down. "I believe so," Mr. Granger told the lady. "I'll have the buffet and a sprite." "I will be having the buffet as well, with a water please. Oh and a water for him as well," Mrs. Granger said, signaling to Shaine. Then she turned toward Hermione, "Can you take care of Felicity's order for me, dear?" Hermione nodded. Diana got up with Mr. Granger and headed over the buffet tables. "I shall have the fruit salad with a lemonade, please," Hermione told the waitress politely. "Oh, and she will have the Children's chicken fingers and chips with a milk," she said motioning to Felicity, who smiled back at the lady. "I guess I'll have the hamburger and fries." Harry said. "With a glass of water please." "Er.um, I'll take the vegetable soup and a baked potato," Ron stated. "And a mug of butterbeer." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Hermione's eyes darted for Ron in frustration, and then she put her head in her hands, remaining silent. The waitress looked at Ron strangely but calmly replied, "Um.sorry, we don't carry that." "What about a glass of pumpkin juice then?" Ron asked her. Hermione's head darted up. "No, sorry, sir," the waitress told him again. "We don't have that either." Ron looked bemused. "Er. I think he means lemonade." Harry told the lady and then slowly nodded to Ron who was still confused, "Right Ron." It wasn't a question. "Um, yeah, right. Lemonade." The waiter gave Ron an odd look before turning around and walking off to the kitchens. "Ron Weasley," Hermione began in a quiet voice, 'You could have gotten us in so much trouble. You should know, by now, that ordinary muggle restaurants do not carry wizard drinks. How can you be so dimwitted? If Harry hadn't helped you out . . .arggh. What if she suspected anything . . ." Hermione went on and on and on.  
By 1:45, everyone had had his or her food. Ron ate the most, finishing off his soup and potato in a flash and asking for seconds. They were now just about ready to leave. Mr. Granger got up and informed them that he was going to go pay, and that everyone else should get in the van. Suddenly Harry smacked his forehead with his hand. "Oh, how could I be so dumb?" he asked himself. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked him; her brows furrowed. "I left all my money in my trunk, and that's in the back of the van." "Oh, Harry," Hermione relaxed. "Don't worry about that. My parents are going to take care of it." "I can't let them do that." He persisted. "Yes, you can and you will. Now, stop worrying about it!" With that Hermione took Harry by the arm and led him outside, where her mother was getting Felicity strapped into her seat. Ron followed behind them.  
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For the next hour they drove. Mountains, lakes, trees, streams, and farms flew by in a blur of color. This time, Hermione was in the middle seat, Ron on the left, and Harry on the right. "I love it down here," Hermione told Ron, who was staring out the window. "It's so peaceful." "Yep," Ron stated mindlessly. "The air even smells beautiful," she continued. "Of flowers and water and." "Hermione?" Ron interrupted. "I thought you said that you've never been to this park." She blushed and looked down at the carpet on the seat. "I haven't." "Then how do you know-," but he was interrupted by Felicity, who just woke up. "Aunt Diana?" she asked sleepily. "Yes, sweetie?" "How many more longer till' we get there?" she attempted to ask. "Um.we have a pretty long way to go sweetheart. Why don't you get some more sleep." Mrs. Granger told her. "Okay," and with that she laid her head down once more for another nap. Everyone was silent for a few minutes, but then Ron spoke up again. "Hermione?" Hermione's head shot up like a lightning bolt with a panicked looked on her face. However, her expression immediately relaxed when she saw what Ron was examining. He had a container of "Popsicle" brand lip-gloss and he seemed perplexed by the mere image of it. "This is the strangest popsicle I've ever seen," he was saying. "Ron, that's not a-," Hermione tried to explain, but he still chattered on. "It's very odd looking." He began to unscrew the top. "Ron, it's-," Hermione tried once more. "Ron!" Harry interrupted loudly. "Muggles have weird ways of making things." "RON!" "I wonder if it tastes good?" "Ron stop!" He brought it up to his nose and smelt it. Then, he began to bring it to his lips. "NO, RON DON'T-," Too late. "Is everything alright back there?" Mr. Granger asked from the front seat. "Y-Yeah, everything's fine, dad," Hermione replied nonchalantly. Harry and Hermione starred at Ron in horror. Ron starred back at them with a confused look, and then his face contorted into a grimace and he flung the lip-gloss out of his mouth. "Gross!" he exclaimed. "Now, Ron, we tried to warn you," Hermione stated clearly. "It's not our fault." Ron stuck his tongue out, attempting to get the taste to go away. "Ron?" Harry asked. "Are you okay?" Ron mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath. "What?" Harry asked bewildered. "Ron, please, if you're going to speak, do it correctly!" Hermione mused. "You know, with your mouth actually open." To this, Harry snorted. "Watermelon." Ron managed. "Excuse me?" "Watermelon! The flavor was watermelon. I HATE watermelon," he blurted out while screwing to top back on. "You can have it back, Hermione, I don't want it." Ron extended his hand outward with the lip-gloss. "That's quite all right, Ron. You keep it," said Hermione, gently guiding his hand back in the direction it came. "Ginny would like it." Ron's face changed into a perplexed look again, and his brows furrowed as he looked down at the floor. Meanwhile, Harry caught Hermione's eye and grinned. She kept her staid expression for a few moments before breaking into a grin as she tried to stifle her giggles. Harry never ceased to make her smile.  
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"Are you guys hungry?" Hermione asked the boys a while later. "No, not really. But thanks anyway," Harry replied. "YES! I'm VERY hungry!" Ron answered after Harry. Hermione dug in a bag sitting on the floor near her feet. She pulled out four round sugar cookies. She handed one to Ron and sat another one down in her lap. She extended the other two toward Harry. "No," Harry told her gently, waving the cookies away, "I'm not all that hungry." Hermione gave him the how-dare-you-refuse-my-offer glare and pushed the cookies farther toward him. "Hermione, why does Harry gets more cookies? I'm the hungry one here!" Ron complained, poking Hermione on the back. Hermione in turn gave the red head a brief death stare before turning back to the other boy. "Harry," she insisted. "You look like you barely ate anything at your relatives' house. If you continue to obstain from food, you are going shrivel up on the spot. My cat eats more than you do!" Hermione gave the raven-haired boy a soft, worried expression and lifted the cookies up hopefully. Harry sighed, rolled his eyes, and took them. "I'm not starving myself, you know," he told her, taking a bite of the first cookie, "did you ever think that maybe I just wasn't famished at the time. We only ate lunch a few hours ago, Hermione." This statement was replied to when Hermione make an "uh huh" noise sarcastically. "Eh? Harry? Can I have a tiny, itsy bitsy piece of that cookie?" Ron asked Harry quietly, so that Hermione wouldn't hear. At the same time, Harry and Hermione replied with a firm, "NO!" "If you even think about touching his food, Ron, I will hex you!" Hermione informed him. Ron moved back, seeming to be surprised. "Well aren't we just a bit over- protective." "At least I seem to care!" Hermione retorted. "Are you insinuating that I don't?" Ron snapped. "Taking his food obviously has some say in this!" said Hermione. "Wake up, Hermione! He said he wasn't hungry!" Ron said, angered. "He was being polite," Hermione said firmly with her teeth gritted. "And just how do you know that Miss Priss?" Ron spat. "Because that's how Harry always is- he's polite. Unlike some brute I wish I didn't know." Hermione replied harshly. Ron took a deep breath. "If you don't like the way I act, then why in the wizarding world did you bring me on this confounded trip?" "You're my friend- simple as that. But if you didn't want to come on this 'confounded' trip, then why did you?" Hermione asked strictly. "To be with my best mate, Harry." "I thought you only cared about his food!" Hermione said finally. "Mum," she called to her mother in the front seat, "can we please stop for a short while to stretch." Her mother said yes and within five minutes they had pulled over in a small picnic area alongside the road for a rest.  
Hermione was the first to get out. The other two boys stayed silent for a moment, not moving from their spots. Harry was surprised that Hermione had acted the way she did. She normally found a calm way to handle Ron's comments. After arguing over many debates in his head about what he should do, Harry exited the van and looked around for Hermione. She was sitting on a bench next to a clump of oak trees staring off into the distance.  
The concerned green-eyed boy walked over to the bench and sat down a few feet away from his friend. He looked over briefly to see if the girl next to him was all right. She appeared to be fine, except for the blank look on her face. She had her faced tilted up a bit. Hermione was watching the sun as it slowly touched the horizon. The day would soon turn into night.  
As Harry watched her, his eyes became transfixed at the radiant sun illuminating her face, making her look somewhat like an angel sitting next to him instead of the girl he knew as his best friend. A slight breeze began playing with Hermione's hair, causing it to sway gently. Rays of light touched the strands as they moved and transformed the dull brown color into a rainbow of golden highlights that Harry had never noticed before. If the perplexed boy looked deeply into the distant girl's eyes, he could see the sun itself as it descended in the pastel sky.  
The teenager's mind raced as he contemplated the scene before him. He was searching for a word; one that he'd rarely used in his past. Seeing Hermione, bookworm Hermione, like this in front of him . . . .it all looked so . . . .precious. Time froze, and suddenly the only thing shining in the boy's eyes was the angel next to him. What feeling was this? It hammered at his brain as he tried to put his finger on the emotion raging in his heart.  
Then, the eyes that once reflected the sun so brightly slowly lowered to the ground, driving Harry out of his bemused state and back to earth. Harry gently reached over and placed his hand on her sun warmed fingers before entwining them with his own. As soon as the two hands clasped together as one, Hermione lifted her head up to look at Harry. A smile appeared on her elegant face that made the sun wince from all the warmth and love it admitted.  
As Hermione gently held her best friend's hand, she felt him give her a last soft, reassuring squeeze, before they both got up and dusted themselves off. When their hands fell apart from one another, Hermione noticed that the great warmth that she had been feeling left her, and was replaced by an icy awareness of reality. What lay before them was a mystery, Hermione only hoped that when everything was over, she could touch her friend's warm secure hands once more and not feel the worry of death that hovered in Hermione's mind every time she looked into the raven haired boy's captivating green eyes.  
Harry glanced at Hermione one last time with a small smile before moving away from the bench and toward the van. Hermione followed suit and actually got to the automobile before Harry. Ron was still irked, and refused to talk to anyone minus Harry. This time though, Hermione was safely on Harry's right side, blocking her from Ron and any of his remarks.  
  
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Night fell; everything was dark except for the few lights on the roads. They had stopped at a fast food restaurant and had eaten swiftly. Ron still hadn't spoken a word to Hermione. Harry didn't want to bring about another argument so he just talked to each of them and avoided bringing both into the same conversation.  
Currently, Ron was snoring on Harry's left side, leaning against the window. On his right side, Hermione was attempting to read a book. Must be another of her finds for "light reading" Harry guessed. It was probably about something really important and really boring. How in the world she could see the text, Harry did not know. He couldn't even see the seatbelt he had on. Farther and farther they drove. Soon, the road lights died down and everything was black as night, apart from the road right in front of the van where its lights were shining.  
Harry heard Hermione's book snap shut and felt the seat shift lightly. Then he heard a soft sigh coming from the same direction, followed by a long yawn and another sigh. Hermione must be tired after such a long day. He wondered if she would fall asleep after a while. Harry turned his head to try to make out the figure of the girl sitting next to him, but his eyes would not permit it. They only allowed him to see a vast emptiness.  
Hermione felt the boy's stare upon her. Her eyes sparkled in the dark with curiosity. 'He doesn't seem at all like he wants to sleep,' she thought to herself. 'But I saw how his eyelids drooped a bit just as we left the restaurant. I know he's tired. I can feel it.' "Harry?" Hermione whispered. "Yes?" he replied. "Why don't you get some rest. After all, we'll be driving for the next hour at least and it's considerably too dark to do much."  
Harry didn't say anything. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to just close his eyes for a second, but the fear that strange sorts of things would exit his mouth if an upsetting dream so happened to flash through his head kept him from doing so. "Er -I'll try," he lied. "Good," Hermione stated, not believing him quite.  
Harry leaned his head on the back of the large seat and sighed. How was he supposed to get any sleep on this vacation? Ron was used to his musings by now, but Hermione's parents had no clue about his past unless she had told them. (He sort of hoped she hadn't) What would they think if suddenly, one night someone screamed in the next bedroom and then started doing all sorts of bizarre things and what not? They would think he was a mental nutcase if not worse. Hermione might not be allowed to be with him anymore. After all, who lets their child befriend someone that does those sorts of things?  
Hermione meant too much to him. Her friendship was like a golden amulet. He cherished it very much, and held it close to him. Harry would do anything to preserve and protect that friendship. Anything. Therefore, after vowing not to let himself doze off into dreamland during this trip, he let his head sink lower on the cushion, searching for a more comfortable spot to stare at the darkness.  
Meanwhile, Hermione was in her own little self-conversation. She was contemplating whether or not to mention homework anymore on this trip. She had completed it all within the first week of summer. (Plus extra credit) Ron and Harry probably hadn't even gotten it out! Their grades throughout these next two years at Hogwarts would determine their future careers. She had to make sure she pushed her sluggish friends to do their work as efficient as possible. As ruthless as they were, they were still her best friends. Therefore, she had to watch out for them. Finally deciding she'd wait until they got back from the vacation- but no later, to address the issue once more, she put her head down on the back cushion and let her head slip as it hunted for a cozy position to rest.  
Hermione's head gently hit something rather soft. She was puzzled at first, but after listening to his steady breathing for a few seconds Hermione knew it was Harry's head she'd bumped into.  
Harry thought the situation quite funny. He smiled and let out a small laugh. Hermione did the same. "I suppose trying to sleep in a crowded van is not highly recommended," Harry whispered, his warm breath hitting Hermione on her neck and making her laugh a bit more before they lazily moved their heads apart and sat back up. "I guess you're right." Hermione admitted, smiling.  
Ron mumbled something in sleep about wanting more cookies. The van drove on.  
¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°*°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸  
  
.:Note:.  
So sorry that this took *forever* to write. I've had unending supply of homework this year and if it weren't for the X-mas break, this still wouldn't be done! This chapter is dedicated to all of my reviews from my 1st one. Especially *Lauren M Potter* who was my first reviewer ever! After I got the review I think I wrote three pages of this chapter. They do something to me I swear! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I hope to get the 3rd chapter up soon! =) I would be overjoyed if one of you kind people could tell me how to make words italic. And for those of you, who didn't notice, I am constantly using foreshadowing in the H/Hr moments. See if you can stop them next time. Happy Holidays!  
  
¤ Tears of Aquarius ¤ 


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